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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rule — government
  5. rule — a law
  6. row — to paddle
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to click
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rash — a series
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. row — a line
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. track — a song
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. track — a path
  23. track — to keep track
  24. rash — hasty

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com